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The Citizen reports that business group Sakeliga is not happy with the directive that Department of Employment and Labour (DEL) Minister Thulas Nxesi issued two months ago regarding vaccination in the workplace.
The organisation has given him until Thursday to withdraw the policy direction for ‘mandatory’ vaccinations, and issue a press release to inform the public of the correct legal position regarding the right to constitutional integrity. According to Nxesi’s consolidated direction on occupational health and safety measures in certain workplaces issued on 14 June, where employees refuse to be vaccinated for medical and constitutional reasons, employers should find a reasonable resolution that accommodates all parties. If employers decide to make vaccination mandatory, they must identify which employees would be required to be vaccinated, based on the risk of transmission or a risk of severe Covid-19 or death due to their age, or comorbidities. According to Sakeliga, certain employers, including state-owned entities, have now embarked on a process of requiring mandatory vaccinations of employees and independent contractors and various mechanisms were being used to compel employees to be vaccinated, including threats of dismissal or disciplinary penalties. Sakeliga’s letter says these practices are unconstitutional and constitute unfair labour practices and that the minister’s directions have not made it lawful for employers to institute mandatory vaccination programmes. “The policy has in the last week caused significant legal uncertainty amongst employers and employees regarding the actual position of the law and creates a dangerous legal precedent distinctly undermining the constitutional rights of contracting parties. Despite our client’s doubts about the constitutionality of any mandatory vaccination programme, the current structure of the law simply does not allow for such programmes,” Sakeliga’s lawyers indicated in the letter.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Ina Opperman at The Citizen
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